This application is based on French Patent Application No. 97/09830, filed on Jul. 31, 1997, which is incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a slot machine system protected so as to prevent fraud or embezzlement.
The invention applies to any slot machine system whose machines have an electronic cash device referred to as a reader validator functioning with portable electronic payment means such as chip cards or any other equivalent means.
The invention also applies to machines having a mixed payment means, that is to say a coin (or token) cash device and a smart card cash device.
2. Background of the Invention
Smart cards can be unit loading cards or credit cards giving access to credit for gaming.
The problem which it is sought to resolve here is that of knowing whether the money loaded on the smart card of a player and which the latter seeks to be reimbursed is the money actually won on a slot machine.
In fact, the invention aims to prevent any fraud with regard to the sums of money actually won by the players.
To this end, provision is made according to the invention to systematically enter on the cards of the players game-significant information specific to the said cards and to check this information.
The solution proposed for this is to store on the smart card of the player information significant for the games and in particular the total value loaded (the sums loaded) on the card and the value of the winnings achieved (the sums won gambling) by this player. The total value loaded will be stored on the card by the game manager (in general the casino cashier), and the value of the winnings achieved will be stored by the reader validator of the slot machine.
Preferably this significant information will be given a certificate affording verification of the authenticity of this information.
The object of the invention is therefore more particularly a protected slot machine system having means of payment by smart card, a smart card reader-validator and means of managing the credit available for the games of the players, principally characterised in that it has control means able to effect a recording game-significant information on the card of a player, specific to the said card and able to effect a verification of this information.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the credit management means include management means internal to each slot machine and at least one terminal for loading or opening credits for the game and for verification, and the control means are distributed over the internal management of each machine, the reader-validator and the terminal.
To this end, the control means of the terminal include a calculation and processing unit and an associated memory containing a program for authorizing credit and recording at least one significant item of information on this credit and for verifying the significant information recorded on the cards of the players.
The control means of a reader-validator have a calculation processing unit and an associated memory containing a program for recording significant information on the game and for verifying this information.
The control means of the management means internal to a slot machine include a processing unit, a program memory and a data memory. The program memory contains a program for recording game-significant data in the data memory and means of activating the recording of the game-significant data on the card before return of the card by the machine.
According to one aspect of the invention, the game-significant information recorded on the card includes at least one data item representing the total value of the initial credit opened by this cardxe2x80x94and a data item representing the winnings achieved.
According to another characteristic, the game-significant information also includes:
a data item representing the credit available after the won or lost games played.
The available credit information is the result of updating of the initial credit information following losses made or winnings achieved.
Provision is also made, according to another characteristic of the invention, for the system to have means of calculating authentication certificates for the significant information recorded.
The means of calculating authentication certificates are distributed.
Where provision is made for a calculation of certificates, the stored data item corresponding to the total credit value opened is associated with an authentication certificate calculated for this value and the stored data item relating to the winnings achieved is also associated with an authentication certificate calculated for these winnings.
In this case, the terminal then contains means of calculating the authentication certificate for the initial credit information and verification means.
In this case also, each gaming machine reader-validator will also have means of calculating the authentication certificate for the winnings achieved and verification means.